Lalu Prasad Yadav undergoes heart surgeries in Mumbai

Mumbai: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former Union minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is undergoing two major heart surgeries - one to replace an aortic valve and the other to repair the aorta, at a hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday.

"The surgery began this morning," a spokesperson for the Asian Heart Institute, located in suburban Bandra Kurla complex, said.

The former Bihar chief minister has been diagnosed with 'aortic stenosis'.

Asian Heart Institute Medical Director Vijay D'Silva had said on Tuesday that the surgical procedure will take over five hours.

Institute head Ramakanta Panda, who had operated on former prime minister Manmohan Singh five years ago, said that the decision to perform the surgery followed a series of medical tests and evaluation on the 66-year-old leader, who was admitted to the institute on Monday.